Chapters (39)
- Cover
- Title
- Author’s Note
- Glossary
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Acknowledgments
Climbing, perspiring and breathing hard, he paused and looked up. There was nothing but sky above, but already the slanting rays of the sun were casting long shadows on the earth and creating an orange tinge overhead. It was unlikely he’d make the road before nightfall, but Geoffrey was determined to reach the plateau. That way, come first light, he’d be on the highland and able to move quickly towards the track. He looked down to where the trees and bush created a cover so dense it was hard to imagine hiking through it. Beyond the forest, the crevices and folds of the mountains suggested another land and other lives. He couldn’t see the river. It was just as well; he didn’t want to think about being there. He turned and walked on.
It was dusk when he reached the final summit, which required scrambling over a knobbly mound of boulders, edging through a bushy ravine and clambering up several metres of vertical rock. As he turned sideways and squeezed himself into a chute, hooking his fingers onto a ledge and inching his way up, Geoffrey wondered how the others had managed it. The crevasse was too narrow to accommodate more than one person at a time so it wouldn’t have been possible for them to help one another. He was wiry and strong from lifting and carrying gardening equipment, but still found making his way up the fissure difficult. It was possible that Helen, Bev, Bruce and Diane would’ve had to find a route around it.
By the time he pulled himself out of the cleft, Geoffrey was exhausted. He lay on his back in the sand to recover his strength. It was nearly dark and although he was tempted to continue, he didn’t want to risk getting disorientated and lost.
He stared at the sky until the first stars appeared, his mind on Clare. He wished he’d told her how much he loved her when they’d said goodbye at Heuningbos. He’d tell her the moment he saw her again. He’d also say how proud he was of her, and how important it was to him that she recover. He would tread less cautiously about expressing his love. He wouldn’t wait until she was better and stronger. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Clare knew that no matter what, her father loved her.